


The Perfect Solution

by Morgana



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-28
Updated: 2011-03-28
Packaged: 2017-10-17 08:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/174715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana/pseuds/Morgana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow has it all figured out - she'll just do this one thing and fix everything</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Perfect Solution

The first month after Buffy's death passed in a slow-moving fog for all of them as the Scoobies tried to figure out how to keep going without her. But even in death, Buffy helped them out - there were a thousand details that had to be dealt with, from a coffin and plot to guardianship papers for Dawn and the sale of Joyce's gallery, all of them a strange sort of blessing in disguise, if only because they distracted them from the overwhelming weight of their grief.

Giles was busy with the Watcher's Council, filing his diary and filling out paperwork to turn the store over to Anya, who in turn was preoccupied with the prospect of taking over ownership. She was full of talk about inventory and price points, eager to share all her new information with anyone who would listen even halfway. Xander had taken on most of the work of laying Buffy to rest, building her coffin with his own hands and checking to be sure the ground around her grave was well-kept. Willow was working on rebuilding the Buffybot to help with patrol and Tara was tending to matters on the domestic front, taking care of Dawn and seeing that she went to school. And while summer school wasn't that challenging, it provided a modicum of distraction for Dawn. She'd come home complaining about having to write an essay on _Beowulf_ the other day, and the sheer normality of the situation had been enough to elicit the first smiles from most of the Scoobies in over a month.

It takes Willow almost two months to realize that, while the rest of them are slowly piecing their world back together, Spike isn't. The vampire doesn't have anything else to focus on, no projects or tasks to do to take his mind off his pain. He isn't subject to any of the countless mundanities of life that help those left behind start to heal and move on when they lose someone. He still shows up for patrol, still watches over Dawn with a ferocity that she complains will leave her dateless until she's 41, but there's something missing, and it isn't until the witch takes a closer look that she recognizes it.

Spike's lost his joy. It's an odd thought, one she almost discards as being ridiculous, but the more she thinks about it, the more she sees how right it is. He always threw himself into things with such relish, even when he was trying to kill them all. Like Hemingway's bullfighters, Spike lived 'all the way up', so the transformation into what he's become is even more startling. Willow starts watching him, making mental notes to chart the changes despite knowing she can't do anything about the reason for them.

He'd been almost as high-spirited and quippy as Buffy on patrol; now he stalks through the graveyard, coldly and mechanically slaughtering anything that gets in his way. Instead of blooming onions and hot wings, he sticks to blood alone, although if the scent that clings to him is any indication, he's drinking more alcohol than anything else. There's a hollow kind of brittleness to him, a fragility that doesn't fit with Spike's naturally exuberant personality, like he's about two steps from breaking into a million pieces. And Willow doesn't even want to think about what could happen to Dawn if he does.

When she finds the spell, it seems like the answer to a prayer. If she can do this, if she can pull it off, she can bring Buffy back and everything will be all right again. Dawn will get her sister back, Willow and Xander will get their friend back, and Spike... well, Spike will get his old self back. It's the perfect solution. She just has to gather everything she needs and she can fix this, she can make it better.

She tells herself that it's best not to let Spike and Dawn know about the spell. If it doesn't work, or worse, if it does and something goes wrong - but that won't happen. Still, it's best not to get their hopes up, just in case. Besides, this way it can be a surprise, and Buffy'll get a kick out of that. Yes, it's better this way. Satisfied that she's found the answer to all of their problems, the witch gets to work.


End file.
